There is a certain satisfaction that comes from picking a vine-ripe tomato straight from your garden.  You can taste the goodness as you slice them into salads, sandwiches or use them as a garnish to give colour to the plate. Most of us tout fresh fruits and vegetables as the gold standard in being better for us than cooked or processed fruits and vegetables.   However, this may not always be correct.

Studies done over the past 7 years or so consistently confirm that eating cooked or processed tomatoes had significant positive health benefits, particularly in the areas of heart disease and certain cancers, such as prostate cancer.  Tomatoes contain an antioxidant, called lycopene. Lycopene gives tomatoes and some other fruits their red colour; but it also helps to protect and repair damaged cells. And, the antioxidant effects of the lycopene in tomatoes increase upon cooking or processing.

The two key messages are:

1.     Choose tomatoes more often in your 5-10 servings of vegetables and fruits per day as recommended by Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating.  For example, tomato soup, spanish rice, spaghetti, tomato juice, baked stuffed tomatoes, pizza, grilled cheese & tomato, and chicken recipes with a ketchup or tomato paste base.

2.     Variety!!!  While this research about cooked tomatoes is good news, as a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist it does concern me that some people may go overboard on cooked tomatoes to the exclusion of other fruits and vegetables, or decide to purchase lycopene supplements. The Vitamin C content of tomatoes decreases with cooking, so raw tomatoes should be included in the diet as well.  And there are other nutrients in tomatoes, such as Vitamin A, folic acid and potassium.  So just taking a lycopene supplement does not take into account the other health benefits of tomatoes.  Variety!!!!!!!

On a lighter side, tomatoes are fun.  Do you know that tomatoes float in salt water?  For those of you with kids, grandkids or if you are a kid at heart, try playing “tomato toss” waist-deep in the ocean on your next camping trip.